


Brave Little Rabbit

by jj_minerva



Category: AJ Raffles - Hornung
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-04-15
Updated: 2004-04-15
Packaged: 2017-10-02 11:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jj_minerva/pseuds/jj_minerva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bunny remembers a school adventure with Raffles</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brave Little Rabbit

Brave Little Rabbit

 

By Minerva

 

Part One

 

Raffles and I had not been intimate for very long before my newfound knowledge of his sexual preferences caused me review certain events from our school days and see them in a somewhat different light.  My innocence at the time no doubt coloured my initial interpretation of these episodes and hid the truth from my inexperienced eyes.  Now, however, it was enlightening to look back on many events with a new degree of understanding. 

 

On event in particular stood out among the others and left me quivering with thoughts of what may have transpired had I been but a little older and wiser.

 

The event in question occurred one Friday night shortly after the close of the cricket season when the first chill of autumn was already in the air. Raffles requested my help in escaping from his dormitory.  I had been his fag long enough that such requests had become commonplace and indeed I was only too pleased to be his partner in crime. So there I stood shivering in my pyjamas, pulling up the rope and watching his slim form, bathed in cold moonlight, sprint across the lawn below. As I leaned out the window, straining to catch a last glimpse of my hero before he melted into the shadows I suddenly noticed that Raffles was being followed. A second figure, larger and somewhat more bulky had appeared from the other side of the building and was now making his way along the very same path that Raffles had taken.

 

What was I to do? I took a deep breath, my heart pounding so loudly that I was sure it would wake the sleepers on our floor. If Raffles was caught, the results would be overwhelming. Not alone for him personally, although that was my prime concern, but should his escapades come to light it would also shed disgrace upon our House and indeed our whole School.  I have said before that a school was judged on the character of its cricket team and Raffles was that personified. His disgrace was our disgrace, or more importantly, MY disgrace. I worshipped him and would do anything to protect him from calamity. So with shaking hands I lowered the rope once more and before I could balk at the height or danger, I found myself sliding earthward on my way to Raffles' rescue.

 

I followed their progress until I reached the point where I had lost sight of Raffles in the shadows of the tree line, but luck was with me for their footprints were visible in the dewy grass. My slippered feet followed the tracks towards the river until the boathouse loomed before me, large and dark. Was this Raffles destination and if so, why? Surely this was an odd hour for Raffles to practice his rowing stroke. And just who had followed Raffles to this destination and what dastardly deed did he have in mind? I shivered, suddenly aware of my wet slippers and thin pyjamas. Wrapping my arms around me I crept closer.

 

The boatshed door stood ajar and as I drew near faint sounds drifted to me on the chill night air. Voices at first, low and muffled, then silence for a moment, closely followed by other sounds, gasps and groans. Were they fighting? Had Raffles been assailed by his pursuer and even now was wrestling his opponent in an effort to escape? My mind made up, I slipped through the small gap and peered into the darkness. I could just make out two dim forms writhing on the boatshed floor, one slim and supple, the other solid and burly. I would know Raffles anywhere, having watched him many times and admired his athletic physique since first we had met at the start of the term and it was he who was pressed to the floor beneath the bulk of his opponent. The other, his aggressor, could only be a member of the wrestling team or perhaps a Rugby player, for he seemed to have a stranglehold on Raffles and was pulling him about this way and that. Strange, but Raffles did not sound distressed by this rough treatment, indeed from the breathy laugh he gave one would suppose he was actually enjoying the encounter. Still he was clearly on the loosing end of what could only be a thrashing and when I heard him gasp and call on the Almighty I felt it timely to intervene.

 

"What's going on? Stop it at once!" I called loudly, hoping to scare Raffles' opponent away. After all, he too was out without permission. Had the fellow any sense he would have would have woken a Master and reported Raffles' infraction rather than follow on his own. The fact that he had chosen to follow Raffles alone meant that this was most likely a private matter, something to be held over the captain on the cricket team and gloated about with his friends.

 

The two figures broke apart and leapt to their feet, cursing and swearing so colourfully that I blushed. Clearly they were none the worse for their fight, although their clothes had been pulled into quite a disarray.

 

"Raffles?" I whispered, peering at him through the gloom as he pulled his shirt back onto his shoulders. "Are you all right?" My eyes were solely for my hero, looking for signs of any injuries which may need my attention and it was for this reason that I failed to notice his assailant approaching until he had crept up beside me. As I turned, thinking to finally discover the identity of Raffles betrayer, a beefy fist came flying towards my head and I tumbled backwards into darkness.

 

Part 2

 

I awoke with my head pillowed in a warm lap and gentle fingers running through my hair. I opened my eyes to the flicker of candle light and Raffles own blue eyes shining down on me, one hand playing with my hair, the other holding a cigarette. I had never seen him smoke before and I watched, captivated as he brought it to his lips and sucked gently, only to remove it after a moment and breathe a blue cloud of smoke into the air around us.

 

"You silly little rabbit," he scolded gently when he saw me watching him. "What on earth did you think you were doing, following me like that?"

 

"I saw that you were followed and I came to warn you. Do you think he'll tell?"

 

Raffles blinked and blew another cloud of smoke. "Tell?"

 

"Yes tell the Masters that you were out tonight and get you into trouble?"

 

A slow smile spread across Raffles full lips. They looked a little bruised. "No. He'll not tell. Rest assured Bunny, you gave him such a fright that I doubt he will be able to look you in the eye again."

 

"But I don't even know who it was. You and he were fighting and it was so dark; I didn't see his face."

 

"Fighting you say?" Raffles chuckled. "Yes that's what we were doing, just as you say Bunny. And it is probably best that you do not know who my partner in crime was. That way he will think you are a cool as a cucumber when you walk past him in the quad. He's the one who is worried now; after all, he knocked you out."

 

It was only then I became aware of the throbbing in my head. I raised my hand and groaned when I touched the lump on my temple.

 

"You've taken a nasty knock, dear Bunny. Lay still and rest awhile until the headache goes. While we wait you can tell me how all this came about?"

 

Slowly I recounted my tale and all the while Raffles' fingers wound through my hair and worked their magic on my aching head. As I neared the end of my story, I closed my eyes and sighed. "I would have done anything to save you Raffles," I finished, suddenly breathless and feeling more than a little flushed by his ministrations.

 

"Ah Bunny, did you really think that fellow took me unawares tonight?  The truth is, we both slipped out to settle an old score. I was letting him think he had the better of me when you so valiantly broke up our…encounter. I would have won, Bunny. I always do."

 

Raffles fingers slipped down my face and brushed along my cheek. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked, eyes huge and dark in the candle light. He shifted then, his legs moving so that my head jostled in his lap and the warm musky scent of his body wafted around me.

 

"Shall I sit up Raffles? Am I too heavy?" I asked, although I was loath to remove my head from his lap.  It was comforting to lie there and bask in Raffles' attentions.

 

"No, stay there a little longer Bunny. There's no harm in it, I suppose. Do you know you have the softest hair?" Smiling, he stroked my hair again and I lost myself in the gentle caresses, not bothering to answer his question. I must have fallen asleep for I awoke with a start when Raffles shook my shoulder.

 

"Come on Bunny, we have been here quite some time. Do you feel up to moving now?"

 

I told him I felt better and found I could stand without too much difficulty, but Raffles put his arm around me and insisted he keep it there as we walked back to our dormitory. I was cold now, my thin pyjamas quite damp from the boatshed floor and Raffles' arm did much to warm me. I leaned against him, not because of any incapacity on my part but simply to get closer to the warmth of his touch.

 

The rope was still where I had left it dangling from the window and Raffles looked up with a frown. "Are you up to the climb Bunny? I'm still worried about your head."

 

"My head is fine," I whispered as he seized me around the waist and hoisted me up so that I would have less distance to climb. Indeed, it was another part of my body that had unexpectedly decided to raise its head and was currently causing me great concern and embarrassment. This was something new to me and had only become a problem a few weeks prior. It seemed to make itself known at the worst possible times and I wished yet again that I knew a remedy for the inconvenience. If Raffles noticed my state he was too polite to mention my predicament and I was quietly thankful when at last Raffles and I parted ways, although his last words to me were something of a mystery. 

 

"You were a brave little rabbit tonight, Bunny," Raffles whispered in my ear as we stood in the hallway. "Do let me know if I can ever give you a hand with…anything."

 

I thought at first he meant with my school work and study or perhaps my bowling and batting, but the wink he gave as he brushed past, gave me pause to think I had missed something in his words.

 

Little did I realise as I lay awake in my cold bed, shivering in my damp pyjamas and remembering Raffles' warm touches, that relief from my infernal embarrassment was literally at hand.  But such was my innocence that it was to be quite some time before I became acquainted with such practices and even longer before I was brave enough to try them.  By then, Raffles was long gone from our school and I could only follow him in the cricketing reports of the newspapers

 

Looking back now on the episode, I pale at my naiveté and can not help but wonder what would have transpired had I indeed been a brave little rabbit that night and taken Raffles up on his generous offer. 

 

Minerva April 2004

 


End file.
